How to Set Up iTunes Match In iTunes
To set up iTunes Match on your computer, use the iTunes Store.
Use iTunes Match on iPhone and iPod Touch
Managing music on your iOS device used to require you to sync with your desktop computer. With iTunes Match, you add the songs you want to your iPhone or iPod touch without connecting your iOS device to your computer because your library syncs from the cloud. Linking your iPhone or iPod touch to iTunes Match deletes all the music on your device to replace it with your online library. You don’t lose the music permanently—it’s still in your computer’s iTunes library and your iTunes Match account—but your device is wiped. If you’ve carefully curated the music on your device, you’ll have to start from scratch. You also can’t use syncing to manage your music unless you turn off iTunes Match.
How to Enable iTunes Match on iPhone and iPod touch
Follow these steps to enable iTunes Match on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch:
Download iTunes Match Songs to an iOS Device
You can add music from iTunes Match to your devices in two ways:
To download a song from iTunes Match, go to the Music app and tap the cloud icon next to the song. To download an album, tap the cloud icon at the top of the album screen.When you tap a song to listen to, it automatically downloads. While the song plays just like it’s on your device, it’s actually downloading and playing as it goes. Next time you won’t have to download it; it will be in your storage.
What the Cloud Icon Means in iTunes Match
With iTunes Match enabled, a cloud icon appears next to each artist or song. This icon means that the song or album is available from iTunes Match but isn’t downloaded to your device. The cloud icon disappears when you download songs.
How to Conserve Data When Using iTunes Match
If you plan to download a lot of songs to your iPhone, connect to a Wi-Fi network instead of using cellular data. Wi-Fi is faster and doesn’t count against your monthly data limit. Most iPhones have some limits on monthly data use and most music libraries are large. If you use cellular to download songs, you may exceed the monthly limit and have to pay overage fees. Avoid using cellular data by following these steps:
Add Songs to iTunes Match
After you set up your iTunes Match, you only have to add a song on one device to access it on your other devices. Whether you rip a CD to iTunes or buy a track from the Music app on your iPhone, iTunes Match automatically updates the library. When your devices resync, the changes transfer to them.
How to Delete a Song From iTunes Match
Deleting a song from iTunes used to be enough to remove it from all the devices you synced to your computer. But with iTunes Match, you have a decision to make every time you take a song out of your library.
Upgrade Matched Songs to 256K AAC Files
iTunes Match gives you a free upgrade on all matched music. When iTunes Match matches your music library to the iTunes database, it uses songs from the Apple primary iTunes library. When it does this, it adds the songs as 256 kbps AAC files (the standard used at the iTunes Store) even if the song on your computer is lower quality. To upgrade a song to 256 kbps, right-click it in iTunes and select Remove Download to clear the existing track from your computer. When you click the cloud icon to download it again, the new version is the higher quality song from the primary library.
